Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers. The Eastern Lubber is surely the most distinctive grasshopper in the southeastern United States. It is well known both for its size and its unique coloration. The Lubber has wings but they offer little help with mobility and they are incapable of flight, also they can jump only short distances. Mostly the lubber is quite clumsy and very slow in moving around and walks and crawling over the ground, although they are very good climbers they often fall because their sense of balance is so bad.

Grasshopper Nymphs. The immature eastern lubber grasshopper differs greately in appearance from the adults. The grasshopper nymphs are completely black with one or more distinctive yellow, orange or red stripes. The front legs and sides of the head are often red.

Colorful Grasshopper. Adult males and females are usually 3 to 5 inches long. The body is quite robust while the legs remain relatively slender. The general color of adults is dull yellow with varying degrees of black spots and markings. The front pair of wings are yellow with numerous scattered black dots, while the hind wings when exposed reveal a bright red color with a black border.

Females will begin laying eggs during the summer months. After mating, females use the tip of the abdomen to dig a small hole into a suitable patch of soil. Usually at a depth of about two inches, she will deposit up to 50 eggs contained within a light foamy froth. Each female will lay from one to three egg masses. These eggs will remain in the soil through late fall and winter and then begin hatching in March. The young grasshoppers crawl up out of the soil upon hatching and seem to congregate near suitable food sources.

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Photographing The Grasshopper.

Photography Tips. Photographing Grasshopper quite easy as they do not move around very much. Don't do it in the midday sun. Bright sunshine will destroy your ability to get good colorful grasshoppers shots by washing out the lighter colors like yellows and whites. Early morning and evening or on cloudy days are the best times.

Macro Photography. They say grasshopper photography is macro photography well maybe so maybe no, a macro lens will certainly help in getting real up close but just about any lens will do the job. I like my Sony 70x300mm zoom for grasshoppers photography as it gets me up close if I want to be and also allows for wider angle shooting. Use an exposure compensation of -1/2 to bring out the colors.